Addicted To Love

One of my local TV stations last night ran a news story on love, and what scientists are discovering about it. It seems that the brain has a tiny little portion that is devoted solely as a reward system designed to make people (and other animals) do what they ought to do. Without this, we might forget to do the things we should do, like eat, drink and have sex. (Wait. Forget to have sex!?) That we continue to do these things is that it makes us feels good. And we feel good because of the release of a chemical called dopamine into the brain.

Interestingly enough, while a relatively small portion of the brain is active in love, a larger portion is involved in ordinary friendship. Also, the areas of the brain active in love are different from the areas activated in other emotional states, such as fear or anger. Parts of the brain that are "love-bitten" include the ones responsible for gut feelings, and the same ones that generate the euphoria induced by drugs like cocaine.

So the brains of people who are deeply in love don't look like the ones of those experiencing strong emotions, but instead look like those of people snorting coke. In other words, love uses the neural mechanisms that are activated during the process of addiction.

It seems Robert Palmer had it right. When we're in love, we're addicted to love.


P.S. I'm partying over at Michelle Pillow and Mandy Roth's place today, where many authors (including Jaci Burton, Ann Jacobs, Mackenzie McCade, Marie Harte, Mardi Ballou, Brenda Williamson and others) are sharing excerpts and holding contests. Come on over, join up and play with us!